John Ferrara
)]] Name: John Ferrara Gender: Male Age: 16 Hobbies and Interests: Jogging, working out, soccer Appearance: John isn't particularly tall compared to his peers, at only 5'5. He weighs about 140 pounds, and his body is well-toned and muscular from his workouts; his legs, especially his calves, are particularly toned. He has short black hair and lightly tanned skin from his daily time out in the sun. His fingers are long and slightly calloused, and his calf muscles are thick and taut. He has rather angular features, not especially handsome but not very unattractive. His nose, in particular, is rather long and sharp. His eyes are very dark brown, almost black, and slightly angled downward, making his appearance much sharper and harsher. He usually wears tight-fitting t-shirts, his favorite color being dark green. He's often seen in shorts, usually blue nylon ones with white stripes, and prefers bright-colored jeans in the cold. When accepted for the Program, he was wearing an unmarked, tight black t-shirt and red nylon shorts with black stripes on the sides. Biography: John is a fifth-generation Italian, his ancestors having moved to America in the 1930’s. He was born into a lower-class family; his father, Frank, is a plumber and his mother, Mary, a bookkeeper at the local church. His family was very religious, though fairly tolerant of other religions and slightly less tolerant of atheists and agnostics. Their views didn’t rub off on him as much as they hoped, and while he believes in God and goes to church every Sunday, he’s been questioning some of their more bigoted beliefs about who goes to Hell and Heaven, especially if it means that some of his friends would be condemned. John grew up watching soccer matches in the living room. Ever since he was 8, he wanted to be a star soccer player like Joshua Bishop, who he saw win the National Championships in 2017. While his parents encouraged his soccer playing as a way of keeping him out of trouble, they also had an ulterior motive: money. John lived in a somewhat rough-and-tumble neighborhood, one just barely wealthy enough to avoid being classified as a “ghetto”. He suffered some bullying for his obvious Italian ancestry, though nowhere near as much as the black and Latino immigrants faced. He tried to avoid getting into any fights, but sometimes he was unsuccessful and forced to defend himself. He usually kept his fights secret from his parents to avoid worrying them, and would hide his cuts and bruises under his clothes. Eventually his parents found out about the fighting and asked the church counselor for help. She recommended that they encourage his burgeoning love of soccer to keep him occupied and channel his “aggressive urges” into something more positive. They saved up money for a uniform and got him onto a local team. He quickly became an excellent player, quickly working his way up to a midfielder position. He got some more respect from the local kids, especially the ones who played with and against him, but he never quite integrated as much as he wanted. Frank and Mary outwardly encouraged and supported him at the counselor’s behest to keep him from getting into more fights, but secretly they both wished for him to become a wealthy celebrity and make enough money for them to move into a nice house in a high-class community, something nobody in their family had achieved. John was an average student academically, generally only keeping his grades high enough that he could remain on the school’s soccer team and not worry about his parents criticizing his report card; they still did on occasion, but never enough to bother him or encourage him to improve. He was an excellent midfielder and popular with the rest of the team, though he didn’t socialize too much outside of the athletes. In his freshman year, he took up jogging and regular workouts to stay in shape. His family saved up for a cheap treadmill and dumbbell set for him to work out at home when he can’t get into the school gym. Personality-wise, he’s still a bit bitter about the racism and bullying from his childhood. A few of the bullies followed him through middle school and high school, and while they never had overt conflicts there was obviously bad blood between them. The racism has made him mistrustful of a lot of the other students, fearing that he’ll be discriminated against by the more “white“ kids with Anglo-American ancestry. He is never unfriendly, but with people he doesn’t know and trust he can seem aloof and blunt. He’s much friendlier toward minorities, such as blacks and Latinos who also faced bullying in his neighborhood, though they still sit just outside of his “circle” of athletic buddies. In particular, he has a problem with Harris Van Allen; Harris was never outwardly racist toward him, but he still detests him for his discriminatory attitude. John tries not to cause any trouble, but he refuses to socialize with him and will gladly give his opinion on the skinhead if asked. John never looks forward to Announcement Day, and though he doesn’t like to broadcast it, he’s afraid of being selected. He doesn’t want to worry his parents about his safety or see his future sports career cut short; despite not knowing of his parents’ wishes to use him to make money, he knows that a soccer career would be a great boon and ease their workload. He knows that if he dies, they’d be left in poverty. Advantages: 8 years of playing soccer has made John a fast runner and hard kicker, with plenty of endurance to spare. He’s in excellent shape compared to most of the school. He’s popular with the other athletes and works well on a team. He sees some solidarity with students who are part of a minority, knowing that they probably faced the same troubles as he did, and is more willing to help them. His hard upbringing has also taught him how to win a hand-to-hand fight, and though he has no formal training he can keep a cool head and throw a punch just as well as he can take one. He’s absolutely determined to make it out alive and not cause any grief to his parents over his death, and wants nothing more than to go home and help them. Disadvantages: The racism and bullying John faced as a child has taken a toll on his personality and beliefs, and it takes a lot to get him to trust someone to do anything more than not bother him or cause trouble. He detests anyone who discriminates against another group or race and refuses to associate with them at all. His seemingly cold personality to the majority of the student body also deprives him of friends and allies outside of his own circle. Designated Number: Male Student #10 --- Designated Weapon: Banjo w/eagle logo Conclusion: Just as all other minorities or perceived minorities, M10 will be one of the first targeted, and his weapon does little to overcome this fact. The above biography is as written by chitoryu12. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made. Evaluations Kills: Matthew Gourlay, Wendy Fischer, Chris Mitchell, Claire Heartland Killed by: Shot himself Collected Weapons: Banjo w/eagle logo (assigned weapon), Calico Liberty III (from Matthew Gourley) Allies: Enemies: '''Kendra Gregory, Brendon Arrington, Megan Jacobson '''Mid-Game Evaluation: Post-Game Evaluation: Memorable Quotes: Other/Trivia Coming soon... Threads Below is a list of threads that contain John, in chronological order. *Daddy's Little Girl Ain't a Girl No More *This Can't Be Me *M05: START *Driven to Drink *Calm Like a Bomb *Question? *Strange Fruit *Small Comforts *A Couple of Cooks in the Kitchen *Let's Make Life A Living Hell Your Thoughts Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about John. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here! Category:Characters Category:Program Characters Category:The Program